|
|
|
7193 East Bay Hwy
AED (automated external defibrillator) On-Site
|
COMMUNITY COUNCIL
A motion had been made to place money in the Credit Union and to use
this money only for land purchases. A letter has been sent to Celtic
Colours requesting that Big Pond be considered as a venue for upcoming
concerts. Power will be disconnected at the old school. Grants for
the upcoming season have been applied for and swim classes will be held
again this summer. The recreation department will not have the fun van
this summer but will send workers to assist at certain functions.
Don MacG
COMMUNITY NOTES Loretta & Steve MacFarlane will be celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary at the Big Pond Fire Hall on Saturday, 25 April. Their family has extended a general invitation to participate on this occasion. There will be a buffet at 8:00 pm, followed by a dance. See you there. The BOOKMOBILE will be in the area on Friday, 3 April at the usual times and locations in Big Pond, Irish Vale and Irish Cove. Read more. The Big Pond Volunteer Fire Department's plans for a ceremonial
investiture of officers, with a banquet, dance and presentations, are in
the final stages of preparation. Late May is the tentative date. Stay tuned
for particulars.
HISTORICAL NOTES Some years ago I spent time in the graveyard with Joe Neil MacNeil. We went from stone to stone and talked about the people buried beneath them. When we finished, Joe said, "You know, there are a lot of good people buried here with no stones to mark their place. We must talk about them." So we sat for a long time under one of the birch trees and Joe spoke about many people he had known and many others he had just heard about. When I sat down to write a few words about the graveyard, I found myself writing"outside myself"- as if I were someone else- an older person talking to a younger person- and I just continued in that vein as I wrote about the Bornish Stones. After the first instalment was published, I realized I should have used a pen name. I was always intrigued by the name of a man who lived near the Mineral Spring in Glengarry: Alexander MacNeil- Alastair Iain. So I borrowed Alastair Iain's name and affixed it to the second instalment of the article; however, I didn't make my intention clear to the editor- that is, that she should attribute the article to "Alastair Iain"- so a little confusion was the result. By the way,"Alastair Iain" isn't Joe Neil. He is no one in particular,-just a typical older story teller of this area who rambled on from topic to topic, his conversation much rooted in the past and well seasoned with allusions to local history and genealogy, and who had become, as we all do sooner or later if we live long enough, rather disconnected with the present. A reader unfamiliar with local customs of earlier days is curious about (a) the preoccupation with genealogy (b) the number of people who shared the same given names, and (c) local nicknames. Whether by instinct or by design or by accident, the Highlanders paid much attention to their family history. There is still great interest today in genealogy, but what now seems to be just a hobby or a matter of curiosity must have been in the beginning a matter of considerable importance. In Samuel Johnson's book about his trip to the Hebrides in 1773 (too bad he never got to Barra and Uist and the rest of the outer Hebrides!), we read," The inhabitants of mountains form distinct races, and are careful to preserve their genealogies. Men in a small district necessarily mingle blood by intermarriages..." I imagine this "mingling of blood " was a big reason for the interest in one's ancestry. When it came to finding a husband or wife, people in the Highlands and Islands and the early Cape Bretoners had many fewer options than they do today; and often could look little farther than the boy or girl next door. One reason for the prevalence of certain names is the custom that older people had of naming children after grandparents. The first boy was often named after his paternal grandfather and the second after the maternal grandfather; similarly, the first and second girls were often named after the paternal and maternal grandparents respectively. So the names were passed down from generation to generation. (My baptismal names are John and Angus. I am John Angus, son of John, son of Roderick, son of Stephen, son of John, son of Roderick, son of John, son of Angus.) When there were several neighbours with the same last name, as was often the case, there had to be a system for distinguishing them in conversation. Connecting them up with their fathers usually did the trick; it served, for example, to keep Jackie Micky Rory and Jackie John Duncan separate in conversation. At one point in writing about Angus Anthony's Store, I wanted to refer to four separate Angus MacNeils, all contemporaries. To avoid confusion I distinguished among them as their neighbours did- by calling them Angus Anthony, Angus Steve, Angus the Widow and Angus Rory Hamish- that is, Anthony's son, Stephen's son, The Widow's son and Rory Hamish's son.(And yes, Rory Hamish was Rory son of Hamish, to distinguish him from the other Rory MacNeils in the area.) Sometimes we distinguished among people in other ways. When I was very young there was one Rita MacNeil at The Brook- my Aunt Rita. Some years later one of her nieces was named after her, so now there were two Ritas and we had to distinguish between them. Sometimes we called Aunt Rita, Rita John the Widow; and we called her niece (and namesake) Rita, Rita Neily-as in, "Did you see Rita Neily's special from the Savoy? Wasn't it great!" But often we simply said Big Rita and Little Rita. Little Rita's brother Malcie could be confused in conversation with Dolly MacNeil's brother Malcie, so we spoke of Malcie Angus the Widow and Malcie Neily- or Big Malcie and Little Malcie. (Little Malcie's wife Ruth wonders if anyone has a pre-1950 class photo of Brack's Brook School students. Her phone number is 828-2052.) In Barra this past fall I noticed a man who drew attention to himself by walking up and down the road a great deal. I asked about him and was told that he was a man "from away", and that he was known on the island by such and such a nickname. It seems that anyone who spends any time on the Islands is very likely to get a nickname and that it very often will be the opposite of what one would expect. (What's that line about the town in the O. Henry story?- "flat as a pancake and called Summit, of course", or words to that effect.) Nicknames were very common in Cape Breton. They still are, judging by Post obituaries. Around here they were common. They might be based on hair colour (Red Dan), occupation (Mike the Postmaster), location (Joe the Mountain), possessions (Dan the Fast Horse)- just about any basis of distinction was used. Sometimes the connection would be obvious as in Micky Haycove or Mick Boney (which wasn't a physical reference as one would think), or in Mick Sawdust or Mick the Lantern. Why Mick the Lantern? Mick MacIsaac lived out the Rear, well up the Glen - in Rear Ben Eoin actually. He was a great man for visiting and he carried a lantern to light his way home at night, and so he was known as Mick the Lantern. One evening Mick's was visiting in the Front. He had left his lantern hanging on a tree at the end of the Glengarry Road and a young man, one of the Bart Simpsons of the day, came across it; struck by a sudden youthful inspiration, he poured the kerosene onto the ground and replaced it with a noncombustible substance. Ever mindful and respectful of the refined nature of our readership, we won't note the source of the replacement liquid nor the mode of transmission from the source to the lantern. In fact we'll leave it at that - except to say that we can be pretty sure that Poor Mick had hard going on the road home that night; and that he would be thinking dark thoughts every step of the way, and plotting suitable retribution should all facts of the matter ever come to light. (Thanks to Catherine Martin and Duncan Martin.) Jack MacNeil
The Old Grey
Cat
Eating what table scraps he can scrounge, he doesn't come closer than what is necessary to sustain his survival. No one can catch him or a way to his tough old heart. Apparently bitter with nature's pitfalls, he hobbles on three legs, the fourth one he drags Doesn't inhibit his fighting ability however-or his manhood -so it seems.. He somehow sired at least 5 kittens born to Wanita MacPhee's female about last August. And who says you're ever too old or crippled? This cat does not go into anyone's home but is the beneficiary of a cornucopia of food and table-scraps...Talk about environmentally friendly cat--what you don't put in your compost -(meat or fish) -give to the cat! This cat is fed by Ann Marie and Joe Donovan, Mary MacPherson, Tom and Bev MacPherson, and Marie and God knows who else. Anyway, he has also been seen on the highway- let's hope he doesn't get hit-judging by his survival rate to date- he is one street- smart hybrid. Does anyone have a name for him? Let us know! BMP
BIG POND TIMES: Founded in 1994. "It is a newspaper's duty to print the news and raise hell." - Chicago Times, 1861. Circulation : 300 Published by Big Pond Community Council Mailing Address: c/o Don MacGillivray Big Pond, Cape Breton B0A 1H0 E-mail: dmacgill@sparc.uccb.ns.ca Subscriptions for non-residents are $6.50 for twelve issues ($8.00 for non-Canadian addresses). Contact Josephine McCarron, Big Pond, Cape Breton, Canada, B0A 1H0. This issue was brought to you by Josephine McCarron, Carol MacDonald, Don MacGillivray, Sharise McKeigan, Cora MacNeil, Jack MacNeil, Bernadette MacPherson and Ann MacPherson. Deadline for submissions to the May issue is April 23rd. The editor for October is Bernadette
MacPherson (539-0036 ) salmaniw@fox.nstn.ca
|
|
Please direct any suggestions, questions or comments relating to this website to the
Webmaster. |
